Illness at the Powell Estate
by unshakespearean
Summary: When Jackie gets ill, Rose and the Doctor come to take care of her. Very fluffy, 10/Rose. Oneshot. For the sake of canon accuracy, we can just say it takes place sometime before School Reunion, so Mickey is still living at the Powell Estate. I don't own Doctor Who or any of the characters or anything, just saying.


"All right then, where to next?" asked Rose as she and the Doctor walked into the console room.

"Hold on a second," said the Doctor. He went over to one of the little tables. "Your mobile phone's got a message." He picked up the cell phone. "It looks as though Mickey's called you six times in the last hour."

Just then, the phone rang. The Doctor flipped open the mobile. "Mickey, it's the Doctor. What's going on?"

There was a pause. "What's the date and time?" he asked. "I've lost track."

Another pause. "Alright. We'll be there in a few minutes at most." He closed the phone and ran for the TARDIS console.

"Where are we going? What's going on?" asked Rose.

"Your mum's sick."

* * *

"Thank God you guys are here," said Mickey as the Doctor and Rose exited the TARDIS.

"What's going on?" asked the Doctor.

"Jackie's sick, like I said. It started out as nothing, really, but she's just gotten worse. She's refusing to go to the hospital, though."

"_Mum_," sighed Rose. "When will she learn not to be so stubborn?

"Doesn't matter now," said the Doctor. "Come on, let's go help her. _Allons-y_!" He dashed off towards the Tyler flat.

They approached the door. Rose fumbled in her pocket for a key.

"Oh, damn it," she muttered. "I left my key to the flat in my other sweater. Mickey, do you have-"

"I've got it," said the Doctor. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and opened the door.

"Mickey?" called Jackie's voice from inside. "Mickey, is that you?"

"Yeah, and I brought visitors," said Mickey.

"Who's here?" asked Jackie.

"It's me, Mum," said Rose.

"Oh, Rose, sweetheart, you came over?"

"'Course I did, soon as I heard you were sick."

"You got the Doctor with you?" asked Jackie.

"How d'you s'pose I got here?" Rose replied, as the Doctor said, "Hey, Jackie."

"Oh, I'm so glad you came over, I feel just _awful_."

"Mum, why didn't you go to hospital?"

"Oh, I hate those nasty places," said Jackie. "The smell, and the doctors are all just so rude, and-"

"Let me have a look," said the Doctor. "I could help, maybe."

"Oh, you don't need to-"

"I insist," said the Doctor. He led Rose into Jackie's bedroom, Mickey following close behind.

"Oh, _Mum_," said Rose, as soon as she saw her mother. "Oh, Mum, you really are sick." She placed the back of her hand on Jackie's brow. "You're burning up. Here." She pulled the blankets down.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm freezing. Can't I have a blanket?"

"No, you can't," said the Doctor. He began scanning her with the sonic. "Let's see... come on, what's going- Aha!"

"What? What is it?"

"Bad news."

"Oh..." said Rose. Her face fell.

"But not if you have a Time Lord around."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we developed a way to cure this a few hundred years ago. We'll need to go to the TARDIS, though. Come on, Jackie. Can you stand?"

"Not really, no," said Jackie.

"Alright, then. I'll go and get the TARDIS, bring it in here, and we can take care of Jackie in there."

"Oh, do I really have to?" asked Jackie. "My bed is so comfortable..."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe how comfortable the beds in the TARDIS are. She custom-makes them, however you like." Rose gave her mother her brightest smile.

"Okay, fine," Jackie whined, her face in a pout.

"Mum, you're so stubborn," said Rose. "Hope you're prepared, Doctor," she laughed.

"I can handle Daleks, and they're about the most stubborn creatures in existence... save Jackie Tyler," said the Doctor. "I have a feeling I'm in trouble."

"Hey!" Jackie exclaimed. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

"I'd best be off," said the Doctor. "See you in... oh, ten seconds?"

Ten seconds later, the TARDIS materialized in Jackie's bedroom.

"Okay," said the Doctor. "In we go, then. Mickey the Idiot, mind helping me carry Jackie inside?"

"Not at all," said Mickey, ignoring the "Mickey the Idiot" thing for Jackie's sake. (It _absolutely_ wasn't that he didn't mind it, because he _did_.) "Comin', Rose?"

"You bet," the blonde replied as she followed the boys and her mum into the blue box.

"This place still weirds me out," said Jackie. "It's..."

"Bigger on the inside?" asked Rose.

"Yeah, exactly."

"It's brilliant," said Rose. "I love it."

"Well, of course you do," said Jackie.

"Well, if the bigger-on-the-inside weirds you out, I'm sorry to say you're about to be a bit more weirded out," said the Doctor. "TARDIS, teleport."

There was a flash, and the TARDIS teleported the Doctor, Rose, Mickey, and Jackie out of the console room and into the infirmary.

The Doctor laid Jackie down on the infirmary bed. "Alright, let's do this. I'll need space, though, so everyone out. Mickey, go home. We'll take it from here. Rose'll text you later."

"Alright," said Mickey. "Bye Jackie. I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Sure," said Rose. "And Mickey, thank you for telling us about Mum."

"No problem," said Mickey. "Alright, TARDIS. Show me to the exit."

The TARDIS hummed in response, and with a flash of light, Mickey vanished.

"You too, Rose Tyler," said the Doctor. "Go make your mum a cuppa tea; it'll do her good."

"Got it," said Rose as she left the infirmary.

* * *

A few minutes later, Rose returned with three cups of tea. "Here," she said. "I figured we all could have a cuppa." She handed the Doctor and her mum each a cup. "Drink up, Mum, it'll do ya good."

"Thanks, Rose," said the Doctor. "And listen to your daughter, Jackie."

"Alright, alright, no need to be pushy," said Jackie.

"Oh, we're pushy?"

"Oi!"

"Alright," said the Doctor. "I've given you the medicine. It'll purge the virus from your body. You'll be good to go in a few days."

"Brilliant," said Jackie. "Can I have a more comfortable bed?"

"Sure," said the Doctor. "That's not a problem. TARDIS, take us to the nicest guest bedroom."

"I'm still getting used to this teleport thing," said Jackie after they teleported. "It feels rather weird."

"Well, anyway, you should get some sleep," said the Doctor. "Sleep helps. Sleep, more sleep, water, and more sleep." He pulled a blanket over Jackie's shivering body. "You can have this blanket, but no more. You've still got a fever. TARDIS, you keep that in mind. Don't give her a blanket, even if she tries to ask. Not until her fever goes down a bit."

"Well, sleep well, Mum," said Rose. "Want me to stay with you a bit?"

"That'd be lovely, Rose," said Jackie. Rose sat down at the edge of the bed, rubbing her mother's shoulder.

"I'll be off, then," said the Doctor.

"Oh, no you don't," said Jackie. "You stay too."

"Alright, if you want," said the Doctor. He took a seat in a chair near the bed.

* * *

Jackie had fallen asleep within minutes, but Rose wanted to stay with her. She sat on the bed for an hour, two hours, three. The Doctor eventually left, to go fool around with some experiment or something, but eventually he went back to Jackie and Rose.

"Rose?" he asked quietly.

Rose rubbed - no, wiped - her eyes. "Oh... hello."

"Rose, what's wrong?"

"It's just, I've never seen Mum like this before. It's strange."

"Like what?"

"So... weak, and ill... she's never been like this." She wiped her eyes again.

The Doctor walked over to Rose's side, and gently put a hand on her shoulder. "She'll be alright, Rose, I promise. Your mum's tough, and I'm taking care of her. She's in the hands of a very capable Doctor."

Rose grinned, but her eyes still glimmered with tears.

"Come on, Rose," said the Doctor. "You should get some rest, too."

"I don't want to leave her," she said quietly.

"The TARDIS will watch over your mum," said the Doctor. "Come on."

"Okay," said Rose. She yawned. "Yeah, I am pretty tired."

"Come on then, allons-y," said the Doctor. He took Rose's hand, bringing her to her bedroom. "Night, Rose."

"Goodnight." Rose closed her bedroom door, crawled into bed, and fell asleep.

* * *

A few hours later, the Doctor passed Rose's bedroom door to hear her whimpering and muttering in her sleep.

He opened the door, and saw her tossing and turning. He rushed over to her, gently but firmly pressing two fingertips to her temple, and saw immediately that she was having nightmares of her mother not making it through the illness.

"Mum!" she cried. "Mum, no, please don't die."

"Rose," he called, shaking her shoulder. "Rose, wake up."

Her eyes flew open, and she looked around. "Where's Mum?"

"She's sleeping," said the Doctor, his voice calm and quiet. "It's okay now. You just had a nightmare."

"Oh..." Rose looked around, rubbing her eyes. "Must've been thinking about what we were talking about earlier."

"Yeah, maybe," said the Doctor. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... sort of... a bit... not really... no..."

"What do you need?" The Doctor's eyes clouded with concern.

"Just... could you stay with me for a little while?" Rose's voice was oddly timid.

"Wasn't gonna go anywhere." He gave her a small smile as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "What now?"

"Not sure," said Rose. "I just... it's nice when you're around. Less scary."

The Doctor smiled a little wider, but then frowned. "You're scared of what might've happened had Mickey not called?"

"Yeah." Rose nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "She would've died, Doctor." Tears began streaming down her face.

The Doctor felt his hearts break. "Oh, Rose..." He pulled her up so she was leaning against the headboard, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"She would've died," she sobbed. "She would've died and we'd never know."

"Rose..." The Doctor hugged her close. "It's alright. Mickey did call us. Good old Mickey the Idiot. He knows what to do."

Rose nodded. "It's just, it scared me that she was that sick."

"I know," said the Doctor quietly. "But your mum's lucky, Rose, she's so lucky to have you as her daughter."

"No, she's lucky that her daughter has you as a friend."

"She's lucky for both of us," said the Doctor. He wrapped his arms tighter around her for a few moments, and then held her face in his hands. "You should go to sleep, Rose. You look tired. And I should go check on your mum."

"Oh..." Rose's face fell. "D'you really have to go right now?"

"I really should," said the Doctor. "Go on to sleep, Rose, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

* * *

The Doctor opened Jackie's door to see her awake in bed, reading a magazine.

"Oh, hello," said the Doctor. "Feeling better?"

"A bit," said Jackie. "Your box refuses to give me a blanket, though, and I'm freezing."

"Let's see..." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and began scanning Jackie. "Well, your fever's gone down a bit... Fine. TARDIS, Jackie can have a blanket... No, you can't give her _that _one; that's Rose's. We've talked about that. No. No, no, no, not mine, either. Yes. Okay. That one."

"You can talk to it?" Jackie looked perplexed.

"Last I checked, Rose did a lot more than talk to her once."

"The box is a she?"

"Yes, she's a she."

"Well, thank her for the blanket."

_You're welcome_.

"What the-?"

_I can talk to you, too._

"Oh my God, the box is talking."

"Yeah, she can talk to anyone she wants. She and Rose are good mates."

"Excellent, my daughter's friends with a spaceship."

_Excuse me, that would be TARDIS_.

"A _sassy _spaceship at that."

"No sassier than Rose, honestly," said the Doctor.

"You really love her, don't you?"

The Doctor sighed. "Yeah... I do..."

"Doctor, I'm going to tell you something. You may be the most brilliant man I've ever met, but you're still a man and men are thick. So let me make this very clear: My Rose adores you. It's totally obvious."

_It really is_.

"See, even the spaceship sees it?"

_Well, I'm psychic, so that doesn't say much._

"Okay, well the point is, if spaceships can see it, you should too."

"I know," said the Doctor. "I can see it."

"Oh, thank God," said Jackie. "I thought I'd have to give you a long talk, but I guess not. But I swear, if you _ever_ do anything to her, I will slap you all the way to hell and back."

"Trust me, I won't," said the Doctor. "Your slaps are painful."

"Alright," said Jackie.

"Well, you should go back to sleep," said the Doctor. "I'm going to give you another dose of the medicine first." He opened his hand, and a syringe appeared in it. "This'll hurt for a few tics, sorry."

"Yeah, alright," said Jackie. "Ow! Oh, God, that hurt."

"Sorry!" said the Doctor. "I warned you."

Suddenly, they heard footsteps running down the hall. "Mum?" Rose appeared in the doorway. "Mum, what happened? I heard you scream."

"It's fine," said Jackie. "The Doctor just gave me another dose of the medicine, sweetheart, that's all."

"Oh," said Rose. She turned and left the room, hoping beyond hope that the Doctor would follow her soon. She felt rather lonely in her room all by herself.

And then she heard singing, a soft, sweet song, coming from her mother's room. She poked her head in to see the Doctor, singing her mother to sleep, with the TARDIS singing along. She took a tentative step into the room. The Doctor turned and saw her, and reached out his hand to her, beckoning her to come over. She wanted to join the song, so she began singing too, just coming up with a melody that matched the Doctor's, harmonizing with him. Somehow, it was more than a song that they were sharing, it was thoughts and feelings and ideas... and love, too. She could see the love in his eyes as he took her hands in his, pulling her close as they kept singing, not even caring that Jackie was there.

* * *

"She's asleep," Rose whispered.

"As you should be," said the Doctor. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come on. Bedtime."

"What are you, my mother? Are you my mummy?"

"Go to your room."

They could only hold a straight face for thirty seconds, and then they cracked up at the memory of that time the two of them and Jack were facing gas-masked zombies in the midst of the London Blitz.

"Okay, we should go, before we wake Mum," said Rose, nearly crying with laughter. "Coming, Doctor?"

The Doctor took Rose's hand and pulled her in close. "Try to get rid of me, Rose Tyler." They exchanged quiet chuckles as they walked back to Rose's room.

When they got there, Rose looked up at the Doctor, opened her mouth to say something - and then yawned a great big loud yawn.

"Whoa," said the Doctor. "You sure sound tired."

"No, really?" Rose's eyes twinkled, before another earsplitting yawn came forth.

The Doctor pulled down the covers, and then pointed to the bed. "In."

"Don't go," she said softly.

"I won't, I promise," said the Doctor. "I'd stay all night, but your mum might kill me."

"She owes you one," said Rose. "Probably more than that. So it doesn't matter."

"If you say so," said the Doctor with a grin. He got under the covers, but he didn't lie down. Instead, he scooped Rose up and placed her in his lap. It only took a couple of minutes before she was out like a light, cradled safely in his arms.

When he was sure Rose was sound asleep, he began stroking her hair, kissing her forehead lightly. She sighed in her sleep as she moved her hand to his right heart, resting her fingertips on his chest. "Doctor," she mumbled in her sleep. Her fingers twitched. "I love you..." She probably had no idea she had said it, but she had, and it warmed the Doctor's hearts to hear it, even in her sleepy state.

"I love you too, Rose," he whispered, playing with her hair. "My precious, brilliant, amazing Rose." He kissed her one last time before he fell asleep.

* * *

"Alright, Jackie, the sonic says you're good to go. How do you feel?"

"Loads better," said Jackie. "How did you do it?

"I'm an experienced Doctor," said the Doctor. He gave Rose a playful wink. "Right, that reminds me, I need to make sure you didn't get infected, Rose. The TARDIS is pretty sterile, not much can spread in there, but you still could've gotten it somehow."

"She better not get sick," said Jackie.

"Mum, I'll be fine, honest."

"You better be."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. "That's probably Mickey," said Rose. "He has a key, don't know why he knocks."

"I can't believe I'm eating with you guys at a table and everything. It's so _domestic_."

"Oh, you like it," teased Rose as she went to open the door, revealing Mickey. "Y'know, you've got a key to the flat, we gave it to you ages ago."

"I know, but after you see five hundred billion doors opened with a sonic screwdriver, you forget about keys."

"Oh, like you can talk about seeing sonic screwdrivers."

"I've seen enough of it for a lifetime and a half."

"Well, that depends on how long your life is, Mickey the Idiot."

"Oi, don't call me that."

"Rose, how often do I use the sonic screwdriver for stuff?"

"At least six times a day."

"Okay, six times a day, every day for nine hundred years... although I suppose I didn't use it for a few hundred... Okay, let's say about seven hundred years, six times a day... let me do the math here... A lot."

"A lot? _A lot_? You can do math in your head without trying and you give me _a lot_?" Rose shook her head in disapproval.

"Well, anyway, let's eat, I know _someone_ wants to get out of here." Jackie grinned broadly at the Doctor. "Well, come on then, everyone sit down."

"Domestic," the Doctor muttered under his breath.

"Behave, Doctor," said Rose. "Just another hour, and then back into the TARDIS and off we go, alright? Just behave for an hour."

The Doctor gave Rose an adorable - but clearly manipulative - pout.

"Here," said Rose. She got up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "Bit of incentive for ya. Behave yourself, and you'll get another one on the TARDIS."

The Doctor grinned broadly at her offer, and allowed her to lead him to the table.

* * *

"Well then, looks like that's all covered. Your mum's fine, well as can be, so, what now?"

Rose didn't respond, but instead threw her arms around the Doctor, burying her head in his shoulder.

The Doctor grinned as he wrapped Rose in a warm embrace, running his fingers through her soft, golden hair. "What's this about?" he asked cheerfully.

"Thank you," she whispered into his shoulder. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"For taking care of me... and Mum..."

"No problem," said the Doctor. He kissed the top of her head. "Anything for you, Rose Tyler. Anything."

"Oh, that's right," said Rose. "I owe you a kiss." She got up on tiptoe and kissed the Doctor's cheek. "That's the one I owe you."

"Indeed. Thank you, Rose."

"And this is the one I owe myself." She took the Doctor's face in her hands and pulled him closer.

_Um, guys?_

_Guys?_

_We haven't left Jackie's yet..._

_Hello?_

_Oh, well..._

_This'll be interesting._

* * *

A knock at the TARDIS door interrupted their kiss.

"What the-?" asked the Doctor. He ran over to the door and opened it to reveal Jackie.

"What're you two doing in there? Aren't you planning on leaving?"

"Uhhh... yeah. Yes, of course. Right. Off we go then, Rose. Allons-y!"

"You were snogging, weren't you?"

"No, what makes you think that?" He looked over at Rose, who nodded emphatically.

"The fact that both you and my daughter are red in the face."

"And, we're off!" said the Doctor. "See ya, Jackie! We'll be back for Christmas. Bye!" He shut the door in Jackie's face and ran for the console, flicking switches as fast as he could. Once he was positive that he was safely away from Tyler-Slap-Hell, he turned to Rose, a serious look on his face.

"Rose, from now on, the minute we get back in the TARDIS to leave, we are firing up the engines and _leaving_. That is _never_ happening again."

Neither of them heard the TARDIS chuckle, or say, _Oh, I'll ensure it does._


End file.
